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Steam - Windows DRM-Free Version of Skullgirls Shows Anti-Piracy Message and Cannot Play Online

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masheleni

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I have purchased a DRM-Free version of Skullgirls 2nd Encore only to find out that I am unable to play online matches. The lobby menu item does not appear in the Versus screen and I received the anti-piracy message "What is the square root of a fish? Now I'm sad".

I am not a fan of Steam, so I prefer buying DRM-Free games. I purchased the game through the latest Humble Indie Bundle and was expecting to get the full game experience, but instead, it looks as if I have pirated the game. I don't see why I should have even bothered purchasing the game if this is what I get. I may as well have just pirated the game, since I seem to be labelled as such.

To be honest, I feel cheated.
 
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The piracy message was an oversight - I'll mention that to the Humble Bundle guys and get them to remove it.

Thanks for bringing it up!

As for Multiplayer...

At least based on what they told us, none of the DRM-free games they sell at Humble have multiplayer, and according to them that has never been a problem for them. They said in their experience DRM-free versions not having MP is something the community expects. We wanted to be very sure about that before greenlighting the DRM-free release. And that's why the executable should be called something like "Skullgirls Local," too - to make it clear that it's a local-only version.

It's not possible to have a DRM-free MP game because someone could hack the files and create all sorts of crashes and chaos online. And our MP is entirely implemented through Steam, and it would be both a bad idea and completely infeasible to write an all-new MP mode just to splinter the PC community and leave it vulnerable to tampering.

So I'm sorry that you feel like you were cheated, but those are the very real reasons things are the way they are. And you did receive a Steam key for it, too, if you want to play online. So while the MP isn't DRM-free, you still have access to it.
 
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Thanks for the response....

It's rather disappointing that I have to use Steam to get the full experience of the game. I've bought games from GOG which have online multiplayer functionality.
The only reason I bought the bundle was for Skullgirls. Had Humble Bundle made it clearly visible that the DRM-Free version was Local-Only, then I could have avoided the disappointment.

It would be great if you released a DRM-Free version on GOG which uses GOG Galaxy for multi-player. But that's just something I am hoping for. I would actually purchase the game again from GOG then.
 
Oh haha yeah the anti-piracy code is kinda hidden, I'm not surprised it got missed. Hee hee. I assure you that's nothing personal or intentional.
I'm sorry Humble Bundle didn't make that clear, they hella should have. >.< I certainly apologize for the miscommunication.

It'd take a huge amount of work to add non-Steam server functionality to SG PC, and even then someone would have to host servers, which ain't free...and like Ravidrath said, since you can hack anything, non-DRM multiplayer can be a minefield of stupidity. GGPO helps because nothing is synced except inputs, but you could probably still at least remote-crash other people's games if you tried hard enough.

Out of curiosity, since as a developer Steam has been absolutely AMAZING, what's your issue with Steam?
 
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Well, for one, I like to own what I pay for, and Steam uses a Pay-to-Play model.

There are other reasons as well, but I won't make this a complaint thread about Steam. It does have it's merits, but I prefer DRM-Free over Steam.

Normally, I would be perfectly fine with the game having no network play, but in this case, a mate of mine and I purchased the game from Humble Bundle and were hoping that we could at least play over the local network with each other.

It would be great if a LAN-Play feature over the local network were to be implemented in the game (including the DRM-Free version), that way, you need not worry about running servers and having crashes, and the players can play versus each other without clamoring over the same keyboard.
 
LAN play is exactly as complicated as server play, is the thing. :^P
Consoles and steam provide a "give me network info"/"join this room"/"give me room info"/etc API (interface the game uses to talk to another library) that's basically the same. For LAN, we'd have to write all of that library part ourselves, and replace it everywhere in the game.
 
It's a real bummer that no form of network play can be implemented in the DRM-Free version of Skullgirls.
Thanks for all the feedback. Skullgirls is a great game and I will still continue to play it.

With regards to the LAN option, I was thinking more along the lines of directly connecting to each other via IP, if a lobby cannot be implemented. But anyway.

I'll still hold hopes that someday, network play will eventually be implemented in the DRM-Free version.



Thanks again.
 
masheleni said:
I have purchased a DRM-Free version of Skullgirls 2nd Encore only to find out that I am unable to play online matches. The lobby menu item does not appear in the Versus screen and I received the anti-piracy message "What is the square root of a fish? Now I'm sad".

I am not a fan of Steam, so I prefer buying DRM-Free games. I purchased the game through the latest Humble Indie Bundle and was expecting to get the full game experience, but instead, it looks as if I have pirated the game. I don't see why I should have even bothered purchasing the game if this is what I get. I may as well have just pirated the game, since I seem to be labelled as such.

To be honest, I feel cheated.

COPIED FROM THE HUMBLE BUNDLE PAGE:

"(Additional DLC includes all characters and color palettes! Note: Multiplayer access on the DRM-free version of Skullgirls is limited to local multiplayer.)"

Quite literally the first thing there. Followed by the game description.

I also bought this bundle despite owning this on Steam already, because I wanted a DRM free .exe that I can run on comps with no admin privileges. GGPO is an amazing and complex system already, and setting up a separate infrastructure just for those with DRM free copies would be quite costly if not collaborating with an already established network.

Enjoy the game though, get wreka'd.
 
That text was added later on specifically
To address complaints like the OP's. Wasn't there when they bought it initially.

Thanks for picking the game up, btw!!!
 
render said:
That text was added later on specifically
To address complaints like the OP's. Wasn't there when they bought it initially.

Thanks for picking the game up, btw!!!
Ah. NP. Great job with the game. Apologies to OP.
 
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